


15 Ways to Survive the South

by JustJasper



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Lists, M/M, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 21:45:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4321875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustJasper/pseuds/JustJasper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by '<a href="http://www.daphnegottlieb.com/poems/15ways.html">15 ways to stay alive</a>' by Daphne Gottlieb.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dorian

1\. Buy a coat, the place is freezing. Try everything to keep away the chill that has nothing to do with the inclement weather.

2\. Make friends. People are less likely to kill you if they like you.

3\. Enjoy the bitter simplicity of Ferelden beer, savour it in secret.

4\. Keep a watch on the qunari spy, do not turn your back on him, he'd happily see you dead. Ignore the laughter and the way he looks at you, it is _not_ any sort of fondness. Do not trust him.

5\. When you find out the surly dwarf barkeep has a husband, do not cry. When you catch the two lady elf mages kissing in the library and they are giggly and embarrassed, not quaking and fearful, do not cry. When the most handsome templar makes a pass at you in the courtyard in front of all his colleagues and his commander, no hesitation and no shame, do not cry.

6\. Let go of old knowledge, taught by teachers who wanted what was convenient and not what was right.

7\. Take what he offers, but leave before daybreak.

8\. Tear apart anyone who touches any of them. Conjure fire into their very bones and send lightning right at their skull until there's nothing left but a cloud of blood and viscera in the air.

9\. Let him keep you there, warm and sated and unafraid of being known.

10\. Write home. Dear Father, I'm doing good work. Dear Father, we are making a difference against the worst Tevinter has to offer. Dear Father, I share a qunari's bed and he makes me squeal on his cock almost every night. Do not send the letters.

11\. Don't waste time on regretting old prejudices that slowed things down. You've seen the mess time magic plays, there's nothing you can do to change what is passed.

12\. Enjoy the way your chest aches when he looks at you, bask in the joy of being under him, of how hands you once thought wanted to tear you apart instead hold you up, or down, or against, palm huge against your sternum. Enjoy how he kisses the inside of your thigh and tells you that you're perfect. Believe him, even if it won't last.

13\. When he's still and quiet, be sure that you see it, because it's something just for you. Do not define it, do not ruin it, make sure you deserve all the parts he lets you see.

14\. Hope until it hurts, hope like it won't all fall to pieces, hope like you deserve more than a place you loved, still love in some way, taught you that you could have.

15\. Stay for him.


	2. Iron Bull

1\. Don't lie. Don't reveal everything.

2\. Figure out a good way to snap the 'Vint's neck without getting the fiery end of his staff before he's dead. Put it aside, and hope for simplicity's sake it doesn't come to that.

3\. Find a place for yourself with each of them, because the sky is tearing itself apart and there's no time to waste.

4\. Take the barbs, and do not heed them. Wait for him to tire before you tease.

5\. Omit them from your reports, even if it's a surprise, a Tevinter mage, a Seeker, a Kirkwall dwarf and a spirit boy aren't the most relevant things any longer. Don't think about how easy that is to justify.

6\. Give the invitation, expect nothing.

7\. Fuck him like he's never been treated like a glorious thing. Note the ache in your chest when you realise it's true.

8\. Stop tumbling the kitchen staff. Or the librarians. Or the soldiers.

9\. Do not run. Nothing has changed, you've been living a Tal-Vashoth's life for years. Let go of the guilt for desiring something to stand in its place. Asit tal-eb.

10\. Let him take you, because he wants it. You want to do this, you can be anything he needs, for as long as he keeps coming back.

11\. Try to believe them when they tell you that you made the right choice. Want it to be true.

12\. Wish more than anything you'd never thought about how to kill him, that you didn't know a clean and efficient way to snuff out that damn spark.

13\. Make sure he knows how good he can feel. Savour the thrill of lightning crackling across his fingers when you make him come, the way he makes your blood sing like every fuck is a dragon fight.

14\. Laugh when you realise you're imagining months and years ahead in fields on the edge of Orlais with the Chargers around a campfire and him in your tent.

15\. Keep him close.


End file.
